Third Brother, Come Out of Seclusion at Once

Hearing Laozi and Yuanshi's voices, Xu Tong put away the Apricot-Yellow Plum.

"They really did come knocking."

"Whenever those two open their mouths, nothing good ever comes of it."

"Are they dead set on dragging me into the great tribulation?"

As the saying went, if I won't enter hell, whoever wants to can go right ahead.

He had no intention of getting involved in a single one of their affairs.

But since they were already here, he could hardly refuse to see them. After some thought, he let them in.

The moment Yuanshi saw Xu Tong, he spoke.

"Third Brother, come out of seclusion at once! Today, Eldest Brother and I fought those two birdmen, Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor."

"Relying on their supreme treasure, the Chaos Bell, they actually dared insult the name of our Pangu Orthodox Lineage."

"Now that your cultivation has improved, the three of us can join forces and teach those two birdmen a proper lesson!"

Yuanshi certainly didn't stand on ceremony. He didn't even ask whether it was convenient for Xu Tong.

Xu Tong wasn't surprised. From what he remembered, Yuanshi had always been like this.

Yuanshi had always been an expert at being generous with other people's resources.

In many matters, Laozi and Yuanshi never asked Tongtian's opinion. They simply made his decisions for him.

Later, when the Interception Sect flourished and ten thousand immortals came to pay homage, the two turned around and allied with the Shameless Western Duo, selling Tongtian out.

They truly embodied the word "backstabber" to perfection.

As for Tongtian, he was practically a veteran wage slave.

At that thought, Xu Tong became even more determined. No matter what happened, he would cultivate peacefully in his cultivation grounds and stay out of everything.

I'm not taking the blame for you two fair-weather brothers.

Xu Tong spoke with a troubled expression.

"Brothers, I truly wish I could help, but I'm on the verge of a breakthrough. I can't leave lightly."

The moment he heard Xu Tong refuse, Yuanshi's expression changed.

"Tongtian! What do you mean by that? Those birdmen didn't just speak ill of Eldest Brother and me. They insulted the name of our Pangu Orthodox Lineage, and you're going to pretend nothing happened?"

Heavenly Venerable Yuanshi valued his dignity above all else. Having lost face at Di Jun's hands, he naturally had to do everything possible to win it back.

But he couldn't beat the other party. They had the Chaos Bell.

Only by joining forces with Tongtian could he recover his dignity, yet now Tongtian, his longtime tool, was actually refusing.

Didn't that mean he wouldn't be able to regain his lost face?

Laozi stood to the side without speaking, but the look in his eyes conveyed exactly the same sentiment as Yuanshi's.

Hearing Yuanshi's words, Xu Tong frowned.

Well, well, Yuanshi. I show you a little courtesy, and you really start thinking you're something special.

You can't beat them yourself, so I have to fight your battles? Do I owe you something?

When I get caught in the great tribulation, are you going to shoulder it for me or what?

Xu Tong knew perfectly well that Yuanshi ran faster than anyone when trouble came.

But this wasn't the time to tear away all pretense of cordiality with them.

Xu Tong thought for a moment and settled on an argument. You care about face, don't you? Then I'll make this about the name of the Pangu Orthodox Lineage.

Xu Tong spoke with a deeply regretful expression.

"Brothers, you shouldn't have come to me today. If you hadn't come, things would have been fine. I might even have been able to help. But now that you have come, I absolutely cannot act."

Regret covered Xu Tong's face.

Laozi and Yuanshi froze at his words, unable to make sense of them.

Laozi looked at Xu Tong in confusion and asked, "Third Brother, what do you mean? Why does our coming to you mean you can't help?"

Yuanshi nodded beside him and demanded, "Exactly, Tongtian. What do you mean? Are you deliberately making excuses?"

Looking at Yuanshi, Xu Tong thought to himself.

I absolutely am making excuses. Find someone else willing to be your weapon. I'm not playing along.

But while that was what he thought, he couldn't say it aloud.

Xu Tong pondered briefly, then spoke.

"Brothers, you just said that those two birdmen, Di Jun and Tai Yi, insulted the name of our Pangu Orthodox Lineage."

"How exalted is the name of our Pangu Orthodox Lineage? How could two birdmen possibly have the right to judge it?"

"But precisely because we bear that name, we must consider that Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor are only two people. If we overwhelm them with numbers, wouldn't we hand others something to criticize?"

"So, Eldest Brother, if you hadn't come to me and I learned of this myself, then the Three Pure Ones, being one family, could have acted together against Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor. That would have been justifiable."

"But now that you've come to me, the nature of the matter has changed."

"Outsiders will say that our Pangu Orthodox Lineage calls for reinforcements when we can't win and uses numbers to bully fewer opponents."

"Wouldn't that disgrace us?"

Xu Tong's face was filled with righteous indignation.

Laozi and Yuanshi listened in a daze.

At first, Xu Tong's words sounded perfectly reasonable, yet something about them seemed wrong.

But there was one point he was right about.

They belonged to the Pangu Orthodox Lineage. Returning for reinforcements after losing, then using numbers to bully fewer opponents, really was rather embarrassing.

Yuanshi might disregard other things, but when it came to his dignity, he couldn't ignore it.

Seeing that he had bluffed them both, Xu Tong sneered inwardly.

You amateurs think you can play tricks on me?

Everything he had just said was merely meant to lead them around in circles.

What nonsense was this about being unable to help once they told him about it?

If they hadn't told him, he would simply have stayed in seclusion without even showing his face.

As for the two of them getting beaten up, what did that have to do with him?

Although Laozi and Yuanshi still felt something was wrong, they couldn't put their finger on it.

Looking at Xu Tong, Laozi asked, "Third Brother, what do you think we should do, then?"

"We can't just let this matter go, can we?"

Neither of them was willing to accept that.

"Eldest Brother, this matter still falls to the two of you. You've already fought Di Jun and Tai Yi."

"That being the case, you must recover your dignity yourselves. This is a matter of principle."

After all that circling around, they had ended up with the same answer. Yuanshi was just about to speak.

Xu Tong beat him to it, patting his shoulder and saying with a look of conviction, "Brother, don't abandon the bearing of our Pangu Orthodox Lineage."

Under Xu Tong's trusting gaze, Yuanshi actually felt his blood begin to surge.

With things put that way, neither of them had anything left to say.

Laozi sighed. "Very well. Third Brother has a point. For the reputation of the Pangu Orthodox Lineage, we must resolve this ourselves."

Yuanshi nodded in agreement. "Exactly. We are the Pangu Orthodox Lineage. Why would we need to bully others with superior numbers?"

Yuanshi looked as though he had been injected with a shot of pure adrenaline.

Xu Tong stood beside them, nodding earnestly in affirmation.

Inwardly, he grumbled.

Have they forgotten why they got beaten back? The Chaos Bell! That's the foremost supreme treasure. You can't bridge that gap with hot blood alone. Do they think this is a cartoon, where shouting a couple of times sends your fighting power soaring?

But Xu Tong wasn't about to tell them that.

Just as the two were preparing to leave, a heavenly voice suddenly resounded throughout the Three Realms.

"The second sermon at the Purple Cloud Palace will now begin. This sermon will expound upon the quasi-saint Dao. All those with the requisite affinity may attend."

As the voice faded, the system's voice sounded in Xu Tong's mind.

Ding! Hongjun's second sermon detected. Will you attend? Host, please make your choice.

Option one: Leave seclusion and attend. Display your cultivation and establish your renown. Reward: one bottle of Pangu Jade Marrow.

Option two: Leave seclusion and attend. Show weakness to others. Reward: one bottle of Pangu Blood Essence.

Option three: Continue cultivating in seclusion and resolutely refuse to leave. Reward: one Sage Dao Field.

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